Hold bad political actors accountable

Every Sunday morning starts the same way: I go to Starbucks, pick up The New York Times and dive in.

Every Sunday morning, that is, except for the one that just passed. When I went to the coffee shop, I passed the newspaper rack without a glance. I simply couldn’t bear to look.

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The day before, my wife, Susan, had rushed into our apartment, shaking and with both fists clenched. Through tears, she told me about the shootings at Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s meeting at a parking lot in Tucson, Ariz.

“So help me, God” were the first words of an outburst that included many harsh words for politicians and talk show hosts — public figures whose invective had turned politics into a rhetorical killing field. For Susan and me, the attack hit too close to home.

I woke up Sunday morning knowing that at least six good Americans in Arizona didn’t. For the first time in years, I didn’t want to absorb any more bad news. Not yet, at least. I broke my daily routine, avoiding the newsstands and Sunday news shows. I bought my coffee, checked up on my parents and sat there alone.

I’ve long since lost count of the number of town hall meetings, supermarket conversations and other personal interactions I’ve had with the voters in my district. As I sat there, I replayed almost all of them in my mind. Being close to the people, knowing them and hearing them defined who I was as a public servant.

I don’t know her, but I do know Giffords felt the same way.

Sunday morning was also a time to reflect on the rage that has gripped our political system over the past two decades. Often that anger was directed at President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush or, in my day as a congressman, President Bill Clinton. And sometimes that rage was directed toward me.

I never really understood how someone with a strong conservative voting record like mine could incur the wrath of fringe characters enraged that I wasn’t conservative enough. But I soon learned that, for some, blind hatred for government is all the motivation they need.

I also thought about what I had seen just days before on the floor of the House. As outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi handed over the gavel to new Speaker John Boehner, she made sure everyone appreciated the symbolism: It represented the peaceful transfer of power that makes our democracy special.

Saturday afternoon, that peace was shattered.

We don’t know yet if politics moved the gunman to action, but I do know that politics doesn’t belong anywhere near our reaction to it.